Initial Teacher Education for Inclusion
(ITE4I) 2015-18NCSE Research Conference 2019
Peter Hick, Yvette Solomon, Aikaterini Matziari (MMU), Joseph Mintz (UCL IoE),
Finn Ó Murchú (MIC), Kathy Hall, Kevin Cahill, Catriona Curtin (UCC)
ITE4I in Context
• A major longitudinal, mixed methods study of system wide reform in ITE to promote inclusive teaching
• In the context of significant change processes shaping the landscape for teacher education and inclusive teaching in Ireland
• The first study of this scope and scale in Europe
Phase 1 & 2 (2015-16)
• Phase 1: Analysing ITE Programme Content
• Scoping review of literature • Documentary analysis (30 programmes from
13 ITE providers)• Teacher educator survey (N=21)
• Phase 2: Understanding the ITE Student Experience
• Student teacher survey (N=430) and interviews (N=47)
• Teacher educator interviews (N=11)
Phases 3 & 4 (2016-18)
• Phase 3: Understanding the NQT Experience (1st year)
• NQT1 survey (N=122) and follow-up interviews (N=20)
• School principal interviews (N=13)
• Phase 4: Understanding the NQT Experience (2nd year)
• NQT2 survey (N=38) and follow-up interviews (N=23)
• School principal (N =8) interviews
NCSE’s Research Themes
• Components of inclusive/special ed.
• Preparedness for inclusive teaching
• The NQT Experience
• Gaps in ITE for inclusive teaching
• Lessons for ITE, Induction & CPD
European Agency for Special Needs & Inclusive Education
Profile of Inclusive Teachers
• 4 year project ‘Teacher Education for Inclusion’
• 25 countries
• Key outputs included a ‘Profile of Inclusive Teachers’
• Based on core values
• Related to broad areas of competence
• Identifies key attitudes & beliefs, knowledge & understanding, skills & abilities in each area
Profile of Inclusive TeachersCore Values for Inclusive Teaching
• Valuing learner diversity
• Supporting all learners
• Working with others
• Continuing personal professional development
Components of ITE programmes
• Dominant model for content is discrete modules with SEN focus
• There is coverage of broader approaches to inclusive education, in generic modules
• Emphasis on values and attitudes rather than on developing skills
• ‘Reflection’ as critical thinking, rather than problem solving for inclusive teaching
Gap between values & skills?
The student experience
• positive about courses for understanding inclusive teaching
• valued subject specific guidance on inclusive pedagogy
• experiences with specialist provision seen as valuable
• specialist pathways seen as more practical & so better for teaching all learners
Sense of disconnection?
• students often sense a disconnection between school and college-based elements of ITE programmes
• can be quite negative about what they see as missing practical skills input
• what helped most? majority ranked school placement first
Student interviews
• reports of negative experiences were not focused on any specific provider
• it was notable how students’ accounts of their experiences varied within each ITE provider
• some students talked about generational differences in approaches to inclusive teaching
Aligning school placements & ITE
• Variation in quality of placements for learning opportunities on inclusive teaching
• Variation in experiences with Placement Tutors and Cooperating Teachers
• Difficulty in locating placements and ensuring diversity of experience
• Little preparation for working with parents and with other professionals
Teacher educator views
• School experience placements seen as key
• Variable quality and availability of placements seen as a constraint
• Some reduction in focus on inclusive teaching reported
• Expectations for ITE within continuum of teacher education need to be realistic
Staff interviews
• we’re moving beyond this whole notion that it’s just about special educational needs and that’s a big challenge for us
• how… staff themselves collaborate and upskill themselves to be able to do it. ..it’s a long term cultural change
Staff survey: findings
• Some staff aimed to embed inclusive teaching across ITE programmes
• Some programmes made more space for student teachers to reflect
• But some programmes had less time on inclusive teaching
• Teacher educators may need more CPD
‘Effective teaching approaches
in heterogeneous classes’
Student survey: experience
• 48% had prior experience of working with children with SEN
• 47% had personal experience of a friend or relative with SEN or a disability
• Around 60% taught students with SEN
• Over 70% taught students from diverse cultural & ethnic backgrounds
Student survey: attitudes
• Most students expressed positive attitudes towards inclusive teaching
• 97% agree that inclusive education is about equality for all, not just SEN
• 94% agree that most children with SEN can be included in mainstream
• Experience of diversity on school experience was linked with positive attitudes
Student survey: improvement suggestions
• Experiences with wider range of students
• Better support for school placement
• More input on practical strategies
• More input on subject specific strategies for inclusive teaching
-1.6
-1.4
-1.2
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
ITE Year NQT Year
Change in Factor 1Self Efficacy and Knowledge about Inclusion
-4
-3.5
-3
-2.5
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
ITE Year NQT Year
Change in Factor 2Attitude and Knowledge about Inclusion
Student teachers
• Generally positive attitudes to inclusive teaching
• Significant prior experience may be underused
• Wanted stronger focus on skills for inclusive teaching
• Wanted closer alignment between ITE provider and school placement experience
• Noted variations in roles of Cooperating Teachers
Newly Qualified Teachers
• NQT approach to enacting inclusive teaching predominantly shaped by the school context
• Relied on collaboration with experienced colleagues
• Often placed in classes with pupils with SEND, sometime with insufficient support
• In second year of teaching focus shifted from themselves as teachers to pupils as learners
• CPD seen as variable in quality
NQT Experience
• Destinations
• Resource teaching
• Reflections on ITE
• Strengthening commitment
• Centrality of school culture
• Collaboration with teachers
• Collaboration with SNAs
NQT Experience
• NQT Induction Programme
• Learning from interacting with pupils
• Changing focus from teaching to learning
• Navigating constraints
• Agents of change?... in collaborative contexts
• Preparedness for inclusive teaching
Teacher educators
• Recognised importance of inclusive teaching
• Many felt ill-equipped to develop this area
• Need for greater opportunities for collaboration between subject experts and inclusive education specialists
Lessons for ITE
• Embedding inclusive pedagogy across ITE programmes
• Creating spaces for collaboration between subject & inclusive education experts
• Developing consistent approaches across ITE programmes
Lessons for ITE (1)
• Professional learning for teacher educators
• Involving Placement Tutors and Cooperating Teachers
• Planning inclusive teaching
• Individual differentiation and whole class approaches to inclusive teaching
Lessons for ITE (2)
• Developing skills for inclusive teaching
• ‘Disconnect’ between programmes and student perceptions of skills teaching
• Aligning school placement experiences within ITE programmes
Lessons for ITE (3)
• Assessing inclusive teaching
• Planned experiences for engaging in inclusive practices
• Opportunities for collaborative, critical reflection
• Participating in reflective enquiry processes for inclusive teaching
Implications for ITE Providers• CPD for Teacher Educators
• Creating spaces for collaboration with colleagues with expertise in inclusive education
• Embedding inclusive pedagogy across ITE
• Involving Placement Tutors & Cooperating Teachers
• Aligning school placement experiences with college-based input on inclusive teaching
• Developing skills through planned experiences of engaging in inclusive teaching, linked to focused reflective enquiry processes and to opportunities for collaborative critical reflection
Implications for Stakeholders
• Strengthen school placement guidance, for the range of activities that student teachers should engage with, on inclusive teaching
• Ensure that skills for inclusive teaching are assessed within school placements
• Develop further guidance on ‘school placement reflection workshops’ to focus on inclusive teaching
• Identify inclusive teaching more explicitly within Droichead
Implications for Stakeholders
• Aligning guidance to support inclusive teaching
• Promoting online resources
• Resourcing Cosan
• Reviewing NQT induction
• Professional commitment for School Principals to inclusive teaching and teacher education
Summary
• Embedding inclusive pedagogy across ITE programmes
• Collaboration between teacher educators who are subject experts and inclusive education specialists
• Planned opportunities to engage in inclusive teaching, linked to reflective workshops
• Closer alignment of ITE programmes, school experience, Cooperating Teachers
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